Macrophile.com

[Hetzer]

This story is based on the game S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl.

I have added pictures from the game for the sake of those of you that like more visualization. They may be a little too dark... but that's Stalker, doom and gloom.

Thanks to Baggy for helping me get all these links to work properly.






This time in the Soviet Union, any information about the risks of Nuclear Power is classified. As far anyone can know, Soviet Reactors are flawless. Nothing ever goes wrong… nothing, can, go wrong.

---

A breeze blew through the hall and chilled four Stalkers to the bone. With it, a voice echoed. It sounded disconnected from the world, ghostly. It brought the four heavily armed and armored men to a stop.

“Guys, you hear it too, right?” Vasylko hissed to his comrades and gripped his Spas 12 Shotgun tighter.

Fadeyushka looked around with his helmet light and nodded. “Yes… where is it coming from?”

Petruso, the one at the head of the four Stalker group and the only one with Exoskeleton armor grunted and shifted his PKM machine gun. “Voices from the past. He was talking about the reactor.”

Yure groaned. “What, ghosts? I did not come here to see ghosts!”

Fadeyushka looked at him with a scowl hidden behind his gas mask. “You are in The Zone, there are mutants, gun toting zombies, and anomalies that will compact your body into a ball of meat, and you are worried about ghosts? Besides, don’t you want to get to the Wish Granter?”

“Someone probably already got to it. I heard the Marked One has torn through the Monolith ranks and may have even gotten to the Wish Granter already.”

“Who told you that? Once the Brain Scorcher was shut off it was a race to the Plant, there was no time to talk. Besides, there is no way one man can take on so many Monolith Stalkers at the same time.”

“Must I remind you this is the Marked One? Rumor has it he cleaned out the Freedom base AND killed their leader, he didn’t even spare the chef.”

“I heard it was Duty that got through the Freedom base.” Vasylko commented.

Petruso banged his armored fist on a metal pipe, which left a dent. “Enough, we must get moving.”

The group made their way through the dark, radiation infested corridors of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant as their Geiger counts went berserk. Occasionally they would hear more voices and echoes, sometimes they were chaotic as they screamed about shutting off the reactor.

Vasylko began to twitch as he heard the ghostly voices cry out as the reactor exploded. He pressed his shotgun to his chest like it was his lifeline.

Suddenly, everything began to shake and their Geiger counters started to spike. “Blowout, get down!” Petruso yelled out and the four Stalkers went prone on the floor.

Vasylko made sure his gas mask was tight, and then waited. His head began to hurt from the psionic emissions coming from the ruins of Reactor Four. Hopefully it won’t be enough to drive any of them insane, as they are dangerously close to the source of the Blowout. He looked at his Geiger counter and sighed. Judging by the reading, this dose of radiation probably took away from his lifespan another good ten years.
After around a minute, the shaking finally stopped as quickly as it started and the four Loners got to their shaky feet.

Fadeyushka cracked his neck and said, “Well, that was a little more radiation than I normally get every day, but that won’t matter once we get immortality from the wish granter.”

“Hey, shhh, do you hear that?” Vasylko said quietly. They listened, it sounded like panting.

Suddenly Petruso yelled out “Bloodsucker!” as he noticed the glowing eyes of the cloaked mutant.

But before he could fire his weapon, it ran past him and towards Yure, he let out a shout as it shoved him to the ground and kept on running.

Vasylko helped his friend up. “That’s not normal. What is it running from?”
As soon as he finished speaking, the world once again shook. “Another Blowout?!” Yure yelled out.

Petruso checked his counter. “Radiation levels are still normal. It must be the military.” Debris started to fall from the ceiling and a few meters in front of them, the corridor caved in. “It is time to leave.”

They all turned around and ran to where they came from. Petruso was slower than the rest as his Exoskeleton sacrifices speed for strength.
Soon they came to a closed door. Fradeyushka tried to open it but it was locked. “Did that thing close the door?! We can’t get through!”

Finally Petruso caught up to the group and muttered “Not if I can help it.” He gave his large machine gun to Fradeyushka who stumbled as the heavy weapon was put into his arms. Petruso began to slam his body into the metal door. He created a large dent, and with every hit it became bigger. After a around half a dozen, the door was torn off its hinges.

Petruso grabbed his gun and they continued through the collapsing building until finally they reached the stairs that would take them to above ground level and ultimately outside.

Once they made it out. Vasylko looked around. It is always gloomy in The Zone, with a permanent cloud cover and the dead vegetation. But right now it is a war zone as the Military and Monolith Stalkers fought each other.

They quickly took cover behind an old truck. “How are we going to get out of here?” Fadeyushka asked Petruso. The armored figure of Petruso peered around the truck and he saw an eight wheeled APC. The vehicle was currently pounding away at various Monolith Stalkers.

“We are going to take that BTR. There is no way we are getting out of here without being shot.” Suddenly there was a loud rumble coming from the Plant and they looked up to see the massive cooling tower tilting to its left, and then it came crashing down on top of the Plant.

Petruso snapped his three comrades out of their trances as they watched the Plant fall apart. “Vasylko and I are going to sneak up to it and kill the crew. Fadeyushka and Yure, you are to take out anyone that notices us moving on it. Understood?” They nodded and Petruso had Vasylko follow him.

Some soldiers spotted the two Stalkers creeping up on their APC, but they were quickly dropped by the two VSS Vintorezs of Fadeyushka and Yure. Once they made it to the vehicle, Petruso climbed on top of the turret and tore the hatch open. He reached in and broke the gunner’s neck with one hand. He then pried open the driver’s hatch for his comrade. Vasylko stuck his shotgun through the opening and fired twice. Blood erupted from the hatch and splattered all over Vasylko, but it did not faze him. Petruso let the broken driver's hatch fall closed grabbed the limp form of the gunner and tossed him out. A third crew member aimed a pistol at him and shot. The bullet bounced off his helmet and Petruso grabbed the soldier’s arm and crushed it. He pulled him out and threw him to the ground where Vasylko shot him once with the shotgun.

Petruso signaled for the other two to come over. He provided covering fire from atop the APC with his PKM as Vasylko removed the bloody corpse of the driver.

The chatter of Petruso’s machine gun drew attention, but none were quick enough to react before they were cut down. “Fadeyushka, you are driving.”

As they started to climb inside, everything again began to shake. Then suddenly, the sarcophagus containing the ruins of reactor four exploded and there was a deafening howl. The reports of gunfire ceased as everyone looked to the source. Before he closed the turret hatch, Vasylko tried to look through the smoke, he could faintly see a very large silhouette. A few moments later, it moved and a massive form stepped into view.

He has seen some strange mutants in his time, all very dangerous. But he has never seen nor heard of something of this size. Topping in at least 120 feet, the mutant looked like some sort of canine. But unlike the blind dogs of The Zone, it still had eyes, piercing yellow eyes that scanned over the small humans before it. It also still had its black fur, unlike the blind dogs which have lost all of theirs. It’s teeth were massive as they jutted from its muzzle. These teeth reminded Vasylko of the Pseudodogs, which have overly mutated jaws that could bite a man’s head off. The claws on its hands were amazingly long and sharp.

A Hind gunship hovered near the behemoth. The giant looked at it, and then batted it. The helicopter lost control from the hit and started to head for the ground. This prompted every soldier, Monolith, armored vehicle, and helicopter to begin shooting at the new arrival.

The eruption of bullets and rockets was deafening, and Vasylko was shocked to see that it shrugged off the weapon fire and moved on its attackers.

The massive mutant stomped man and machine alike. By now, Fadeyushka has already started to turn the vehicle around and was driving towards the gates while he swerved around various burning military vehicles. Corpses littered the ground, but the large wheels easily drove over and crushed them.

Vasylko chanced another peek outside the hatch and was horrified to see the creature pick up a tank and throw it at a gunship. The aim was perfect and the heavy vehicle completely smashed the body of the helicopter and both wrecks flew through the air for hundreds of feet before crashing to the earth.

“Looks like The Zone has given birth to a new abomination.” Vasylko almost jumped out of the hatch from the voice of Petruso. The large man was looking out the open side door of the APC.

“Do you think they can stop it?” Vasylko asked him as his voice trembled.

“I would think some jets could do the job. But you know airborne anomalies prevent them from safely flying in the zone.” The large man closed the armored door and disappeared back inside. Vasylko remained at the top of the turret.

Fadeyushka drove out the gates of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and headed for the ghost city of Pripyat. Vasylko brought his binoculars to his eyes and zoomed in on the giant mutant. Rockets and tank fire did not seem to hurt it. They left their mark, he noticed as a tank struck the creature in the shoulder. He could not easily tell from the growing distance, but he could swear the wound started to heal in seconds and the fur grew back. He shook his head and vanished into the APC.

---

“Petruso! Military roadblock!” Fadeyushka shouted behind him.

Yure opened up his viewing hatch next to the driver’s position to allow Petruso to see. The armored hulk grunted, “Drive fast and go left. Don’t slow down unless you reach another roadblock.” Yure closed his hatch and Petruso went back into the passenger area.

The BTR’s engine let out a roar as it picked up speed. Bullets began to clang against the armored hull once the soldier’s realized they were not stopping. Once it reached the intersection, Fadeyushka made a wide left turn that fishtailed into a jeep and knocked it onto its side.

Vasylko peered through the view ports on top of the turret at the soldiers shooting their vehicle. But then suddenly the view port glass cracked as a bullet slammed into it. He flinched back and his helmeted head struck the other side of the turret. He let out a curse and went into the back with Petruso.

But before he could even sit down in one of the seats, Fadeyushka yelled out “Shit!” and the vehicle lurched forward as it stopped. He would have been launched to the front if Petruso didn’t grab him. The armored Stalker sat him down into a seat and went to the front.

“It’s a convoy!” Fadeyushka yelled before Yure could even open the hatch for Petruso.

“Everyone out, now!” Petruso came back and opened up the side door and squeezed out and Vasylko followed. Yure having already opened his viewing hatch scampered out of said opening as Fadeyushka climbed out of the driver’s hatch.

Thankfully they stopped next to the soccer stadium entrance and Petruso ordered them in. Vasylko looked back, the convoy did not even bother with them. Trucks loaded to the brim with soldiers passed along with BTRs just like theirs. He looked forward again, and was greeted by the soccer field. Everyone stopped. This field is infamous for its large amount of anomalies.

“They don’t seem to care about us. So take it slow.” Petruso said to them.

Petruso took the lead with his PKM on his back, his three comrades followed him in a line. The group stayed a safe distance away from the numerous Whirligig anomalies.

Suddenly there was a distant loud explosion and another howl, gunfire began to ring out in the direction of the roadblock. This caused the already jumpy Yure to literally jump away from the source of the sounds, and straight into a Whirligig. The Stalker started to scream as he was picked up into the air and spun around.

“Yure, no!” Fadeyushka shouted, but he knew there is nothing he can do for him.

The three looked away from their screaming friend, and a second later there was there was the sickening sound of Yure being torn limb from limb, and the Whirligig exploded outwards with a spray of blood and body parts.

“Keep moving.” Petruso grumbled. The other two nodded and followed their leader. Vasylko looked back at the blood stained ground and sighed. It’s not that he does not feel the pain of losing his friend; it is just that in The Zone, such things happen all the time. The pain of loss weakens over time.

“Where are we going?” Vasylko asked Petruso once they finally made it out of the stadium.

“If the Military can’t stop that thing, we are going to the Red Forest.”

Suddenly the ground shook and they looked back to see the giant mutant moving towards the stadium.

“What? Didn’t that entire convoy head for that thing?!” Fadeyushka visibly shook.

“Shut up, don’t think, move.” Petruso said sternly and they began to head across the street.

He was going to lead them around the left side of the town center, but a large group of Monolith Stalkers at the old carnival began to fire on them.

“Cut through the town center.” Petruso ordered.

They ran inside the building and turned right with Fadeyushka at the front. But when he rounded another corner there was a gunshot and blood sprayed onto the wall. Fadeyushka’s body slumped to the floor, prompting his two comrades to stop in their tracks.

A Monolith Stalker walked around the corner with a Winchester shotgun, but before he even could fire off a shot at Petruso, the large man fired his PKM point blank into his chest. The Stalker was pushed backwards several feet as the heavy rounds tore his torso open.

Petruso peaked around the corner and saw several others coming. “Go the other way. I’ll catch up.”

Vasylko nodded and ran in the opposite direction. A few seconds later he heard Petruso’s machine gun begin to chatter away. He ran up a set of stairs and into a ruined theater. The massive window of the room faced towards the stadium, and the first thing Vasylko noticed was the mutant was not at the stadium. But then suddenly there was the groaning of metal and several seconds later a crash. Vasylko ran out the back of the theater. He glanced out of a window and saw that the mutant had torn down the Ferris wheel in the carnival and it looked like it wanted something else to destroy. He whimpered and ran as fast as his legs could take him.

He came upon a balcony and just below him was an exit. He jumped down and ran outside to the courtyard. A quick look behind him revealed the mutant was looking over the town center. Finally it decided it did not like the sounds of gunfire coming from inside and kicked it. Its massive foot easily tore through the concrete. But then it decided kicking is not good enough, so it jumped directly onto the building. When it landed the ground shook and Vasylko was almost knocked off his feet.

Vasylko stopped next to a monument to catch his breath. From this distance he safely watched the giant destroy the town center. It only took a few stomps on the structure before it was completely flattened. The giant then looked up in his direction.

He took a few steps back, then turned around and resumed running. He ran around an apartment building and passed a tennis court before he reached the streets again. The streets were crammed with old civilian vehicles left over from when the city was abandoned in the 80’s. He made his way around these obstacles, and finally he came upon the road leading to the Red Forest. But he was horrified to see a large number of tanks coming, and they did not look like they planned to stop as they simply drove over the old cars, corpses and trees littering the ground.

Thinking quickly, he dropped into a blast crater. But before he could lie on his back, he heard a moan. He looked to his right and saw a Monolith in exoskeleton armor gripping his stomach. Vasylko snarled at him and pointed his shotgun at the man’s head. The crater was given a shade of red, but that did not stop the Loner from lying down. The ground began to shake, and seconds later a tank drove over the crater.

Dirt from the tracks fell onto Vasylko. He covered his gas mask filter to keep the dirt from going in and remained put when the tank passed. It was a good idea as another began to drive over. But unlike the first, this one stopped itself directly on top of him.

There was a loud roar and some explosions. The tank over him fired, and then suddenly started to reverse. Moments later a massive foot paw came down over the crater and covered it completely. It disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Vasylko waited half a minute, until he finally decided nothing else was going to go over his hole just yet. So he looked outside the dith to see the fighting. The tanks were trying desperately to kill the beast, but their shells seemed to do nothing to kill it, and only further angered the creature. It stomped several tanks before it picked up another and threw it through one of the apartment buildings.

Soon there was only one tank left. The creature picked the vehicle up and looked it over while keeping the gun away from its face. But the mutant growled as the turret of the tank insisted on turning to shoot it in the head. So it gripped the gun, and tore the turret off of its ring and tossed it away. Two men fell out as it was flung through the air. Vasylko ducked down as the turret came crashing down and bounced over his crater. He looked back up to see the creature shaking what was left of the tank.

‘I pity the driver…’ Vasylko’s thoughts were interrupted when his head began to pound and he started to get dizzy. He looked behind him and gasped when he saw a Controller walking towards him. He ducked into the crater and began to pray that the psionic mutant will not bother with him.

Apparently his praying was answered as the humanoid mutant walked past without even glancing at him. Vasylko looked up to watch. The controller stopped behind the curious giant. Suddenly the behemoth dropped the tank and gripped its head. It turned around with a snarl. It started to stagger and fell onto a five story apartment building. The structure could not hold the weight coming down on top of it and it came crumbling down.

But to Vasylko’s dismay, the mutant got up from the fall, and it looked pissed. It charged at the Controller and picked it up in one paw. It tossed the Controller into the air, and caught it with its mouth.

The giant rubbed its head for a moment, and then turned around to head to the Red Forest. Vasylko, relieved to see it was going away from him, climbed out of the crater and headed in the opposite direction. But suddenly a tank and some soldiers appeared from behind a building. Upon seeing him, one of the soldiers decided it would be funny to shoot him. Vasylko let out a scream as a bullet tore through his leg. He landed on his back and gripped his bleeding leg.

The tank fired a shot that struck the giant in the back. It turned on its heel and with an angry look on its face, charged the tank. Vasylko whimpered as he saw a massive padded paw come down on top of him.

[firefan08]

Long and a great story to this contest.

you have my vote (decided not to join contest)

[gadabout]

finally read it. AWESOME! the screenshots helped a lot.

[Hetzer]

Hachi: Thanks! ^_^

Gadabout: Glad to see the shots helped!